Freddie Mac is seeking approval to acquire second liens. The Structured Finance Association opposes the proposal, noting that non-agency outlets are providing sufficient liquidity for seconds.

You thought rates would be falling by now, causing the MBS you own to spike in value. Right? It didn’t work out that way, but it might now. Advice: Bet on a rate cut from the Fed by the fall.

Ginnie to increase reporting requirements on defaults, loss mitigation; Fitch prepares to rate commercial PACE securitizations; loans for hotels near Disney World head into commercial MBS; FHA extends waiver tied to Ginnie multifamily MBS.

Ginnie cautioned issuers that it monitors their portfolios to ensure they are meeting acceptable risk parameters, including those related to prepayment activity.

Better keeps losing a ton of money but continues selling millions of dollars in loans to Fannie Mae. The secret is in cash left in the cupboard.

Newly-released minutes from the Fed’s meeting in March indicate that the Fed is ready to slow the pace of Treasury runoff while maintaining the already slow pace of MBS runoff.

A foreclosure action against a borrower for alleged mortgage fraud landed a Florida-based lender in court for punitive damages.

The role of MBS in housing market bubbles is a sign that the financial sector now drives the real economy rather than the other way around.

The agency single-family MBS market is the main driver of structured finance issuance, but it recorded a decline in first-quarter production while ABS, commercial MBS and non-agency RMBS posted gains. (Includes three data tables.)

The Ellington Financial affiliate is ditching agency MBS to become a registered closed-end fund with a focus on CLO investments.